#ThinkDigital ? Consumer experience is the new marketing strategy

India is a country of elections. Every year, in fact, every quarter there are some elections going on whether at the state level or the national level. 2019 is at the forefront of Nation’s biggest ever election and election spending. According to a media buying firm, approx. 180,000 Cr (or $25 Billion +) is expected to be spent in the next 6-8 weeks. Social Media, Digital, TV, and Print Advertisement will be the key drivers for this 100% increased spending from previous elections.
Since the 2014 election, Digital promotions have started to play a key role in influencing the voters. And this it’s not just the Social Media promotions, its the content that will be the key to win hearts of the voters. There are two political social media campaigns that I reviewed lately – 1. Nation With Namo 2. Soch Se Soch Ki Ladaai. In both of these campaigns, the motive is to touch the hearts of the voters with the pinch of emotions. It’s not the usual direct campaign that asks you to vote for a party, these campaigns just leave you with some food for thought.
Over the last decade, brands have started developing a strong relationship between the Consumer Experience and Marketing, however, it was primarily physical like purchase experience or service experience. Now with the age of digital, it is even more complicated and important to understand that a consumer can also interact with the brand not just physically but also digitally, not just at purchase but also at the exposure. And brands need to make sure that consumer experience is synchronized across all modalities and should be tied up with their marketing strategy.
Think of the below application example from Napolact, which brings a beautiful experience of squeezing milk from the cow digitally at an exposure/sampling event. The audience is left amazed when they interact with it digitally and as results were offered as a sample of the milk. The campaign received a great response and made half of the Romanian Facebook universe go gung-ho about it. YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/VCV9zKC-FmY
Nowadays many of your consumers are digitally active and interacting with the brand via all possible channels. This is very different from some years ago when consumer experience was only physical. It is very much important that their experience with the brand is seamless and soothing on all possible channels that it leaves an amazing print on this mind about it.

Now as a marketer or a brand manager, it is also your responsibility to understand how your marketing strategy empowers your consumer experience. Are there any opportunities where you can use consumer experience as your marketing strategy or think beyond, are there any correlations that you can drive?

Positive customer experience is always a win-win as it will result in making your customer happy, plus it may lead to additional revenue. Marketing can bring you a new customer, however when your customer refers you to others or brings a new customer that’s like Nirvana.
Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, “#ThinkDigital” I explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. I share insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.

Internationally acclaimed advertising and analytics enthusiast, data-driven digital strategist, Abhinav has worked across countries with data and analytics-driven companies such as SAP, Dell, Citrix and led consumer behavior focused data and marketing teams of JetBlue, PlaceIQ, OnDeck. Currently, he is Managing Director and Cofounder of ATechnos (www.atechnos.com), a 2012 established innovative digital consulting think-tank based out of Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore. He is also well known in the industry as political media specialist and strategist.
Follow Abhinav on twitter @aj_atechnos or LinkedIn – www.atechnos.com/aj ©AbhinavJain.
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